I said that my round 39 tune was based on the sort of piano noodling I do when I am left to my own devices at the instrument, but its inspiration is indeed from animation.

Jo Hisaishi wrote and conducted the score to every major motion picture that Hayao Miyazaki has directed, his signature being his own solo piano playing leading to gigantic, swelling orchestrations that are not afraid of ethnic instruments, and the occasional synthesizer or drum machine.

When asked to demonstrate how to program a sequence in the "demos" lab in college, I programmed a tune that appears in a sequence in "My Neighbor Totoro," and I often used some tunes in Nausicaa to warm up. Sadly, most of the things I recorded in college are lost in a box somewhere and likely are on horribly worn out tapes from all the heat and cold of storage and moving, but I just wanted to affirm that the sound is definitely a part of my music.

I'm also fond of the Yoko Kanno soundtracks to varying levels ("Blue" from Cowboy Bebop is one of the few songs that can literally make me cry,) and personally wish that I could write a lyric in a language that does not exist.

I should also say, though, that aside from being a part of the obsession that came to fruition when Disney signed a distribution deal with Studio Ghibli, it's more my brother that's into the animation than I am, it's really just a sort of osmosis process, and I haven't really been "up" on anything for some years.